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Wednesday, July 4th 2012

Good evening, it’s Wednesday, July 4th and this is the Jive at Five, WESU’s daily community calendar and run-down of nighttime programming here on 88.1 FM WESU Middletown. Thanks for making WESU your listener-supported source for NPR, Pacifica, independent and local public affairs and free-form community radio. I’m Bill Denert, producer and host of Thursday night’s Evening Jazz where “hearing is the best experience” and Connecticut’s number 1 Washington Nationals fan! Thanx for tuning in!!

Here in Middletown Mondays through Thursdays from 10 a.m. to noon through during July and August, Stacey Stroka leads The Buttonwood Tree’s Open Arts & Crafts program. Everyone is welcome!

Tonight, the Buttonwood Tree will be closed in observance of Independence Day.Thursday night brings Bob Gotta’s longstanding monthly acoustic Open Mic to the Buttonwood.Friday night, The Jolly Beggars bring the rich tradition of Celtic folk music and storytelling to the Buttonwood.

Saturday, Singer/Songwriter Brian Colburn and Pianist Ryan Heidel bring their music to the Buttonwood Tree.Food Not Bombs shares food at about 1 p.m. in front of the Buttonwood Tree every Sunday. All are welcome and invited to help prepare vegetarian food at the First Church on 190 Court Street at 11:30 a.m.More information about all Buttonwood events at www.buttonwood.org or 860.347.4957

Tonight, down in New Haven, is the weekly dubstep dance party at Toad’s Place; on Thursday, Dance Hall reggae sensation Baby Cham takes the Toad’s Place main stage. Friday brings the Battle for Mayhem Fest to two stages at Toads place, featuring over 10 loud rock bands battling for a spot to play at the Mayhem Music Fest in Hartford in August. Saturday night, Toad’s hosts an event called “LUMINESCENCE: A NEON GLOW PARTY.” More can be found online at toadsplace.com

Café Nine’s Saturday afternoon Jazz Jam will be hosted by the Mike Coppola Trio this week. Saturday Night, Stark Raving Lulu celebrates the release of their new CD at Café Nine alongside Peacock Flounders and The Sawtelles. More can be found online at cafenine.com

In New Britain on Thursday night, Tools Bar & Grill, presents “JAZZ SPOKEN HERE” hosted by The Alvin Carter Project, with special guest Spoken Word Artist Michael Hawkins. Friday night, saxophonist and composer Kris Allen and his group perform jazz at Tools, and DAVID DAVIS, SAX IN THE CITY, are at Tools on Saturday night. More can be found online at toolsbarandgrill.com/

Thursday night, THE UMOJA MUSIC SERIES presents a free evening of live music with ALAN PALMER & THE NEW SOIL SHIP at Black-eyed Sally’s. Friday Night, Junior Kraus and the Shakes bring their jump-up blues sound back to the Sally’s stage. Saturday night, The JackLeg Preachers, based out of Salem, Massachusetts, bring their “Jamband” music to Sally’s. www.blackeyedsallys.com

Thursday night here in Middletown at 7 p.m., Wesleyan University’s Center For the Arts summer season kicks off with a free concert by Alma Moyo. Founded 10 years ago in the South Bronx by lead singer and percussionist Alex LaSalle, the intergenerational band Alma Moyo performs Afro-Puerto Rican bomba folk music, featuring dynamic drumming, dancing, and rich vocals. The concert takes place outside on the CFA green on High Street. In case of rain, the concert will be inside at Crowell Concert Hall. For more information, you can visit www.wesleyan.edu/cfa

Also Thursday Night, Simply Swing, a 10-piece swing orchestra plays the Gazebo at Unionville Center in Farmington, as part of the Farmington Bank Community Concert Series. For more information you can go online to simplyswingmusic.com or by calling (860) 989-9217.

Here in Middletown, the Mattabesett Canoe Club at Harbor Park presents Thursday Night “Jazz on the River,” from 6 to 10 p.m. For info and reservations, call 860-347-9999.

On Friday, down at the Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, the Small Town Concert Series presents another “Everybody’s Diggin’ Dylan” tribute concert at 8 p.m. The Kate is located at 300 Main Street in Old Saybrook. Call 860-510-0453, or visit thekate.org for online ticketing or buy tickets at the box office.

Saturday morning, The Russell Knitters meet and work at The Russell Library here in Middletown. All are welcome to share their expertise and experience. More can be found online at russelllibrary.org/

Saturday night at the Royal Masala, The JOSH EVANS QUARTET plays jazz on Main Street in Hartford at 8 p.m.

With Independence Day there are fireworks displays scheduled across the state. Here’s a quick rundown:

The City of Middletown and the Middletown Commission on the Arts present a pre-Independence Day Fireworks Festival tonight, beginning at 6 p.m. on the front lawn of the City Hall Municipal Building at 245 Dekoven Drive in Middletown. The festival will include activities for children, music for all, select vendors, and fireworks shot high over the Connecticut River. The fireworks will begin at 9:30 p.m. The event is free and there is free parking throughout town. Please call the Mayor’s Office for more details: 860-344-3401.

Also tonight, you can catch fireworks in Bristol, Fairfield, Madison, Middlebury, Naugatuck, New Britain, New Canaan, New Haven, Ridgefield, Washington, Weston and Wilton.

Thursday night, you can catch fireworks at Meriden’s Hubbard Park.

Friday night, Salem and Windsor locks present fireworks displays.

Saturday night, there are more fireworks displays scheduled across the state in Beacon Falls, Bozrah, East Hartford, Greenwich, Groton, Hartford, Lebanon, Manchester, New London, New Milford, Orange, Portland, Torrington, Stafford and Wallingford.

Sunday, you can catch fireworks in Enfield.

Tis the season for farmers’ markets and here’s a few in our area:

The Durham Farmers’ Market is open every Thursday on the Town Green on Main St, from 3 to 6:30 p.m., through September. The longstanding Middletown Farmers’ market at the South Green kicks off this week and continues on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. through October. The Middletown North End Farmers Market is now open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Friday and is located at the corner of Liberty and Main Streets in Middletown.

That’s it for our community calendar. For the latest in local arts and entertainment beyond the Jive At Five, you can visit www.arts2GO.org – the City of Middletown’s new website for anyone interested in what’s going on in Middletown. You can access arts2GO.org for updated information.

Here’s a quick rundown of cinema off the beaten path here in central CT this week.

Tonight through next Tuesday, Cinestudio, the Trinity College cinema in Hartford, presents Stanley Kubrick’s timeless 1964 noir doomsday satire, “Dr. Strangelove,” starring Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Slim Pickens, Sterling Hayden and James Earl Jones. Show schedules and descriptions can be found online at cinestudio.org

Real Art Ways in Hartford has extended its “First Position” run, which follows six young dancers as they prepare for a chance to enter the world of professionals. Also showing through tomorrow at Real Art Ways is “OC87: The Obsessive Compulsive, Major Depression, Bi-polar, Asperger’s Movie.”

Also, Friday night, Real Art Ways begins a run of the feature-length documentary film “Marina Abramavic: THE ARTIST IS PRESENT,” which follows the contemporary artist as she prepares for what may be the most challenging performance of her life. Tickets, times and more can be found online at realartways.org

Now stay tuned. Here’s what’s playing on WESU tonight, as we kick off our Summer Program guide.

Right after the Jive at Five Right stay tuned for The Needle Drop with Anthony Fantano for an hour of the latest and greatest in the world of independent rock, pop, electronic, and experimental music out there today.

From 6-6:30pm, it’s Free Speech Radio News From The Pacifica NetworkYour daily dose of alternative international news and reporting from the Pacifica Network.

At 6:30 and running until 8pm, it’s Fusion Radio with James FusionTechno from around the globe mixed live since 1992. It’s a vinyl world!

From 8 to 9:30pm it’s The Warehouse with Mike Nyce for the best of underground deep house music, mixed live for your listening pleasure.

From 9:30 – 11pm it’s The Vault with DJ Anton Banks. On the air since 1995! Presenting listeners with the very latest in underground electronica on vinyl format, so the music can be heard as it was intended. Regularly featuring exclusive sets from international producers and DJs.

From 11pm-12:30am it’s Midnight Munchies with DJ Gus Lo – The Below Ground Street music your ears have been craving.

Beginning at 12:30 and running until 1:30am it’s Search and Recover with DJ Cheshire Cat. Search and Recover scours the world of music to find as many versions of a single song as possible. Join the exploration of the modern musical standards!

and from 1:30-4am it’s The Graveyard with DJ Otto Nation. An eclectic mix of music from the WESU collection of new releases.

The BBC News kicks on at 4am and we begin tomorrow’s broadcast at 5am with Morning Edition from NPR.

That’s all for today’s Jive at Five, if you didn’t get a chance to write down some of the information mentioned in our community calendar, the script is published online at www.wesufm.org/jive, and if you know of any events that you’d like to have announced on the Jive, send them to jive@wesufm.org

If you tune in to WESU for information and music that you can’t find elsewhere, then we are counting on you to help support the service you depend on.

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